Hat manufacture



E. R. ANDERSON Aprile, 1940.

.HAT IANUFACTURE Filsd July 21,* 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR .Elf/afp 7:70.55 Anale/150W 9, A E R ANDERSQN HAT IANUFAGTURE fR/wfks Patelzlitedl 9,-' 1974) i nATIMANUFACTUaE L i Evan Ross Arliliers'oxr,A lrvingtonjon'z-Iyudson; Y. 4

.Application July 121;, 1937, sentirlo; 154,730- i A j'f 9 Claims. (C1.19 14s r My invention relatestofa system ,ana :appara-1 "tus for forming'felt hat bodies, .It-hasbeen found very desirable t'o carry onthis wor k under conditions of uniform temperatureiand,moisture in order tocontrol the quality of the product. VOn this account "the'workers are subject to most uncomfortable conditions of Vheat and humidity. 'They are also subject to the hazardsof mercuvrial poisoning which comes from the carroting '1 lof the fur, The above conditions 'notonlyseriouslf/interfere' with their efficiency but are 'detrimentalto' their health. It `has been Afound most difficult to maintain uniformityof control because of the fact that Where such 'alarge Volurne of airis .being taken out of the room itself it is impossible to 'control air currents withofthe fur onth'e cone. I

' I havel'accordingly sought in the room and this materially aifectsthe laydiscomfort a'ndfhazardto the Worker and at the same time `l-ieep down .thecost of equipment and operationend produce vhigh quality articles.

In its )most .economical arrangementthe improved system contemplates the use vof .ajcommon plenum .chamber from which lthe properly conditionedair. 4is fed to .a number'of `independentlyV operable forming machines.. Airis' drawn from the Wetprocess room of the factowthrough the vsizing machines where it picksfup exhaust steam and water Vapor. This vhumidilled alli-,is

drawn through a collector drumwhere it 'regulated automatically from the control .in the trolled conditiomf..

plenum chamber so as to produce a uniform con- This air maybe divertedinto an exhaustduct to the outside atmosphere when `not needed. A;

supplemental supplyqof steam maybe .provided for emergency v.purposes When the sizing Imachines areshut down or their .outputinadequate to the. demands of the formers. Incase the moisture content is too'high; drier' air may be taken Y from outside air.4 n uniform condition is maintained in the .entire plenum chamber so that `all the formers will receivethe sameuniforrn supply.

on the'cones is controlled by regulating the admission ofl air to the sides of the `former domes. Each former` is provided with a fan forexhausting the air fro'rnithe inside of its cone andf'disf charging it into the exhaust duct by'which it is` led to a settling chamber for removing dust and excess fur, The'cleanedfair is then discharged to the atinosphere.`

The drawings show diagramrnati'caily'oner arrangement of apparatus for the improved systoI establislra'sysl tem and'l apparatus so designed as tofeliminate,

y Any suitable; type of feeder andy former may be employed. rThe conditioned air fed inl ldividually to the` formers and the' lay of' the fur Fg. 1 a'lverticalfsectionalviewofftheprini cipal elements.

s 1PM i Fig. 2 is a planjvew showing one layout of Y which provide 'the' steam vaporkrequired;

.f `f Eachforming fmac'hinehasa casing ordorne l"5 With afcone. 6 7 of'any suitable type'. The -fur fis' fedinto'xthe casingjby any suitable typeof y'feeder l which "discharges linto thev former-i.. through an `opening `8 vabovejtl'ie' cone. Any

number of these'fo'rrnersI may be installed in thev forming room 9 infany suitable"arrangern'ent.l 'Y

formers together with" adjacent sizing machines ifor The conditioned"airfsupply for the formers is' derived from the pleniinifcharnberit Which'ex- -tends above "the battery of formers Aandjmay form. -a `sort of hollow or falsefceiling of the room.' The upper'ends )of the casings' 5, Sere extended to I- the"pl-'-'nu .n'i'fchamber'.l f Each former preferably has adjustable doors il attire sides of the dome adjacent the conej'i The' moisture laden Warm l' air is Withdrawn frein-the sizing machines.v i4 @through ducts i5'andlccllector housing 'It by means of a fan vvWar-1dI orcedthrrough ductl8 kto the plenum chamber-Id.

This duct "i8v mayhav'ea plurality ofA outlets tothe 'root orfcutside atmosphere throughi a valve or daniper'i. The'collector'housing i6 may be drained-through theoutlet 22. A sup- "plementary supplyfcfiste'am O rfmoist Warm air maybe aclini'ttedto the plenumchamber i il lfrom a' nozzlefor inlet ,air may beadmitted to. ll the plenum chamber throughfa 4controlled ini9 'leading into the .chamber vvM3. y:The passage vofthe air `frorntile fante theplenum duct mayv j he'controlled'by avalve ordainper 2li.l The `eX-v yhaustlfromthefanmay-be'bye-passed or divertedy letra; suitaeiecsntfoumg apparatus 25 of Coni ventional'forin preferably,y ofxthe indicating or'.

,of the recording type mayybe used. Thisconstrolling apparatus 25 opens and closes the dampersii,vr Zi-jor Eil# in anyjwelliknovvn manner `to increase or' decrease the' moisture content of the air introduced to' the plenunflchaniber. f Eachffor'mer :is proyidedttvith an exhaust fan 3B which? discharges air intjthe" exhaust duct 3 l andfthe exhaust chamber` 32 vfrom which the air'pass'es 'to ,the cleanerfnot shown) The proportions of`r theplenum chamber and yducts will *depend i upon the type andv `number of forrnersused.4 Resistance tothe flowfof air -must be'I lowior successfulfoperation. Cross air currents vin the formergca'sing'- should be avoided l except as setup purposely inthe machine )for its specia1purpose. i

` In a vtypical installation ya cnehorse-poWer ian serves. to take the 'exhaust steam from the sizing. `niachine and .deliver'it to the plenum chamber..l Each former .has a'ttventy (20)A horsepowerv fan/Which will handleablout 6,000 cubic for supplying temperature controlled air from a wet process room to all the formersl independentfao From the foregoing it will be seen that ythe tioned without aii'ecting the felting operation.

This system also makesit possible to safely use exhaust steam from processes which may'produce steam .which is contaminated with fumes that would be undesirable for the workers to be `subjected to. l

Actual operation of the improved process orsystem has demonstrated that a uniform high grade product'can be turned out under ideal working conditions and without any increase in cost. The initial investment is small and the operating cost is insignificant. The steam from the wet process is usually'thrown away but by my system is used to provide the necessary moisture for the feltingprocess.`

This process avoids theexcess of moisture fre'- quently found other machines and reduces to a minimum dags, or lumps formed by fur matting on the former dome walls.,v These rdags subsequently break off and attach themselves to the hat being formed which often makes it a` reject. c

- Cleanout time and frequency of cleaning have been greatly reduced and production has been increased over other methods as muchas iifty 'percent by the use of this system.

I` claim: c l. Hat forming apparatus comprising, a room, a plurality of formers' -in said room, a ,common source of conditioned air for all the formers conditioned independentlyof the air ofthe room `whichV the workmen breathe, means for `feeding fur independently intovthe various formers and meansy for withdrawing air from the formers independently of each other i and for conveying substantially all said withdrawn air vto a point remote from the formers and for discharging said air at said remote point, whereby said conditioned -air is excluded from mixture with the air of said room, breathed by said workmen.

Y, and mixing with the a 2. Hat formingvv apparatuscomprisingha' plurality of formers, a plenum chamber extending above the formers'forfurnishing temperature controlled air 'fo-r-allthe formers independently of the air which the workmen breathe, means for feeding fur into the various formers, means Ifor withdrawing air from theindependent formers and means for positively excluding said temperature controlled air from entering into men.

3. kI-Iat forming apparatus comprising, a former room, a plurality of vformers in said room, means ers', whereby said withdrawn air is kept discrete and separate from said circurnambient air.

ir breathed by said work- '4. Hat forming apparatus comprising, a plurality of formers, a common source of air for all the formers independent of the air surrounding the former, means for controlling the temperature of and humidifying said common source of air independentlyof the condition of the surrounding air, means for feeding fur into the vari- .ous formers and means for withdrawing air from the formers. y

` formers.

. 6. In a hat forming system vthe .combination withthe sizing machines and the vforming ma- -chines'ofacollector housing, a fan for Withdrawing-air and. steam from the sizing machines, a plenum chamber receiving air andsteam from the collector housing, means forregulating. the

temperature and humidity `in the plenum'cham- H25 ber, means for delivering the conditioned air to the forming machines from theplenum chamber,

and means for exhausting theair from the forming machines. y

'7. `In a hat forming systemrthe combination with the vsizingmachines and .theforming machines .o f a collector housingQa fan for withdrawing air and steam from the sizing machines, a plenum chamber receiving airv and* steam from the `collector housing, means' for providing aux iliary supplies of steam and of unconditioned air to the plenum chamber, means for delivering the conditioned air to' the forming machines from the plenum chamber, `and means for exhausting'the air from the forming machines'.

8. InA a hat forming system, a room a plu-r rality of .forming machines insaid room, a plurality of v.air intakes for said forming machines,

a plenum chamber abovesaid machines, means for furnishing air.to said chamber, means for ,controlling the degree of humidityy of said furnishedair, means for feeding thehumidied air `from said chamber to said machines independently of andwithout affecting the air of said room, means for feeding fur tosaid machines, and' means for exhausting. air from said machines, all said air transporting means operating so asto keep said humidied air'from entering said' room, so that the airlof said room will be free fromadmixture of said humidied air.

`9. Hat forming apparatus` including a work room, two discrete air systems, hat formers located at and forming substantially the sole means by which air can pass from one system to the other system, means for humidifying and controlling the temperature of an air supply, means for supplying said controlled air to one of said air systems, means for removing the controlled air from the other of said systems, after said air has passed through said formers, said air systems including a plurality of ducts for the transportation `of said controlled air, and said ducts constituting at least a portion of the walls of both-said air systems, whereby controlled air may be both supplied from and ldischarged to points remote from the vicinity of said -formers and whereby said controlled air is excluded from said work room.

- f' AEIVAN ROSS ANDERSON. 

